Smith says Size IS Important

Season 2001 saw the Parramatta's players dubbed the `Baby Eels' en route to winning the NRL's minor premiership and a place in the grand final.

Seasonn 2004, they have become the `Monster Eels'.

Coach Brian Smith said some of his forwards who lost the grand final to Newcastle in 2001 had bulked up over the off-season while the club had embarked on a deliberate recruitment drive for beefy players to add more grunt to the pack.

"We've added a lot of big people," said Smith about his recruitment strategy in response to changes in the game since the Eels' grand final flop.

"The name of the game changed dramatically during the course of 2002 and last year it became smash-em-up football really."

Smith conceded the Eels were outmuscled in 2003 and he has recruited a group of no-nonsense forwards who, while not stars of the game, will provide the Eels with the aggression they have lacked.

Coach Smith points out that former Manly prop Aaron Cannings weighs 116kg while "one mother of a boy", teenager Justin Tsoulos, tips the scales at 119kg.

Add to that Adam Peek plus recruits Corey Pearson (Wests Tigers), Craig Stapleton (Dragons) and Mal Kaufusi (Roosters), and the Eels have the size to front up to any pack in the NRL.